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A 6-year-old boy with leukemia and his family are to appear on Good Morning America and Today this morning.
By AMY HERDY
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 11, 2000
TAMPA -- The saga of a sick boy's threatened treehouse moved to the national stage Monday as network TV crews followed 6-year-old Brage Sassin into his lofty refuge.
The crush of media coverage was part of an enormous response to the plight of the young leukemia patient whose parents, Omar and Tammy Sassin (Sa-SEEN), have been told the treehouse violates neighborhood deed restrictions.
By fax, e-mail and telephone Monday, hundreds of area residents rallied behind the family in the hopes that Brage (pronounced BRAYj) could keep his hideaway. A lawyer offered free legal help. Tampa Mayor Dick Greco also was moved.
"It's a shame, with all their pain, they have to bare their souls to the world for a treehouse," Greco said.
The family is scheduled to be featured on NBC's Today and ABC's Good Morning America shows this morning.
"It's been really overwhelming," said Tammy Sassin.
Nonetheless, the president of the Tampa Palms Owner's Association said Monday that nothing had changed. Liz DeAmbrose said the treehouse, which reaches about 14 feet in height, must be lowered to a maximum height of 8 feet, even if means destroying the structure.
"For eight months we've tried a lot of different things, because we certainly don't want to walk around being heavies," DeAmbrose said. "We have children. We have compassion. . . . On the other hand, we can get sued if we don't uphold the deed restrictions.
"We're not saying remove it, we're saying take it down to the 8-foot level."
Tammy Sassin disagreed.
"They haven't done anything but turn us down, give us new hope we could keep it, then turn us down again," she said. "You can't take it down without removing it. It's a treehouse."
Clearwater lawyer Jonathan Comnes, offered his services to the family for free after reading about their situation Sunday in the St. Petersburg Times.
On Monday, Comnes sent a letter to the Tampa Palms board of directors on behalf of the Sassins. "Before any legal action is taken on behalf of the boy, we want to give you the chance to search your heart and change your decision," the letter read.
If necessary, Comnes wrote, ". . . We will find a doctor (oncologist) that will declare that the treehouse is medically necessary."
DeAmbrose said the Tampa Palms architectural review board, a subcommittee of the homeowner's association, would review the matter again.
When a Tampa Palms resident wants to make an architectural change, she said, they are required to submit their request with a $10 fee.
The Sassins, she said, did not do that, and the board received complaints from two nearby residents almost immediately after the treehouse was erected in time for Brage's sixth birthday March 28.
His father and Brage built it to celebrate his apparent victory over leukemia, which he had battled from age 2 to 5. But in August, he relapsed. Now, he spends much of his time in the hospital undergoing chemotherapy and other treatments. When he is home, his favorite place is the treehouse.
"We have to uphold the deed restrictions," DeAmbrose said. "They (the board) have true empathy, but at the same time we have other people saying, "Do your job.' " No one has threatened litigation, she said.
"But they are very upset and have made several phone calls. We have certain procedures of letters, and then it turns into a fine and then court action."
Throughout Tampa, residents urged the association to drop the matter against the Sassins before it went any further.
"It's a horrible problem," said Michael Hoad, public affairs director at the University of South Florida's College of Medicine and a Tampa Palms resident. "It puts an enormous emotional strain on the family."
The president of the New Tampa Community Council, George Faugl, said the group had not discussed the issue, but that on a personal level, he was incredulous the child might lose his treehouse.
"I understand the value of deed restrictions," he said. "But the highest property I value are my children. And with an uncertain future, rather than calling for the removal of the treehouse, I'd be canvassing the community for possible marrow donors. Isn't that a little more important?"
-- Times staff writers Logan Mabe and Angela Moore contributed to this report.